High School Musicians Rub Shoulders with Pros - Dennis

Amidst homework, final exams and holiday concerts at area high schools, the halls are also buzzing with the sound of jazz. Students at ten Corridor-area high schools are in final preparation stages to put their best musical foot forward as they record with a professional jazz educator for the Corridor Jazz Project.

The bands from Cedar Rapids Prairie and Washington recorded their submissions last week for The Corridor Jazz Project 2011. Linn Mar also has their tune "in the can." Other schools participating are West, City High and Regina in Iowa City; as well as Marion, Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Xavier and Jefferson.

The Corridor Jazz Project is a collaboration between Jazz 88.3 and the school districts of Iowa City, Cedar Rapids and Marion. Each school's jazz band is matched with a professional player and jazz educator, who rehearses and performs with the band as a guest soloist. Their song is recorded and all the tunes are put on a compilation CD. Schools can then sell the CD as a fund raiser.

This is the fourth year of the program, which the Iowa Bandmasters Association has called "the crown jewel" of jazz education in Iowa.

All ten bands will celebrate the release of the Corridor Jazz Project CD on April 5, 2011 with a concert at The Concert Hall at Prairie High School. The Corridor Jazz Project concert is also the only school music event that involves all ten public and parochial schools in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and Marion.

Watch the Prairie Jazz Band's recording session:

See photos from each school's recording session on KCCK's Facebook Page.

More information at www.kcck.org.